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Japan rail firm switches on 'drunk spotting' cameras

A Japanese railway company is turning to cameras as a way to spot drunken behaviour and keep late-boozing patrons from tumbling onto the tracks, a spokesman said Wednesday.

PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

[TOKYO] A Japanese railway company is turning to cameras as a way to spot drunken behaviour and keep late-boozing patrons from tumbling onto the tracks, a spokesman said Wednesday.

West Japan Railways (JR West) has installed nearly 50 closed-circuit television cameras at its Kyobashi train station in Osaka to stop accidents that frequently involve legions of late-drinking "salarymen".

The suited city workers are well-served by extensive urban train networks that whisk them back home at the end of the night.

While the worst that happens to most corporate warriors is nodding off and missing their stop, a small number are hurt or killed in stations every year by plunging onto the tracks.